The field of the invention is bicycle racks for motor vehicles and the invention relates more particularly to bicycle racks of the type which have a channel for holding the rear wheel, a pair of studs for holding the front fork of the bicycle and a pair of forks for holding the front wheel of the bicycle. Such racks provide an efficient way of holding a bicycle on an automobile.
Most commonly, such bicycle racks are held on the top of the automobile which unfortunately causes a substantial amount of air resistance. A modified bicycle rack has been held by a square trailer hitch and is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,932. Other devices also held by the rear rack are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,804,120 and 4,676,414.
These bicycle racks are invariably provided in a fixed number so that, for instance, two or four racks are always provided even though only one bicycle need be carried. Conversely, many designs will only hold one bicycle which obviously is impractical if two or more bicycles need to be carried.